Escape 'to' Alcatraz

I remember this movie from when I was a child. I have always thought it was a good idea to have prisons out in the ocean or in the middle of the desert, a far less likely chance of escape, right?

Alcatraz is famous for the 20 years it was a federal penitentiary, but before that it was a "prison island" for about 80 years from 1859 to 1933.

Our day began early in Livermore, Calif. We awoke and dressed, not knowing what type of weather we may have to endure. The weatherman in San Francisco said it would lightly sprinkle in the afternoon and maybe, hit 62 degrees. I figured pants, T-shirt, heavy jacket, gloves and an umbrella although, "it never rains in California." My mother and I left the motel and took Highway 580 west toward Dublin/Pleasanton. The men, well, they went off in different directions. My husband took my daughter to Chuck E. Cheese for the afternoon and my dad headed to his brother Steve's to catch up on visiting.

The directions I printed off the Internet seemed clear and gave me great confidence I could navigate the city and get us to Pier 33 in time for our 10:15 a.m. ferry to Alcatraz, right... At the Dublin exit there weren't very clear signs to the Bay Area Rapid Transit station. After asking four different people how to get to BART, two of whom spoke no English, we finally made it there, and the train we planned to catch had just left. Now our time frame to get to the ferry has tightened. What if we're late? Would they let us go on a later ferry? What if we're just out of luck? I thought, "Darn it, I hope we can make it there on time."

We arrived at the Embarcadero exit at 10 a.m. We had 15 minutes to make it a little over a mile. Which way do we go? The first two people we asked didn't know, they were tourists like us. Luckily we found a gentleman who pointed north. The long, fast walk to Pier 33. Oh no, there are people picketing out in front. We arrive at will call just in time for the two-minute call, "all aboard." We were once again running. Yes! We made it. The ferry over was great, only 15 minutes long and we arrived at Alcatraz Island.

The tour was an adventure. We acquired a headset inside with voices of the prisoner's talking to us, telling us their story. The audio sound was very good quality. It told us where to walk and turn and what the prison was all about. I took lots and lots of pictures. I was standing in a solitary confinement cell so my mother could take my picture, when my cell phone rang. It was my son Garrett in the Navy calling from Virginia. He asked what I was doing and was shocked by my response. It reminded me of when we were in Chicago for his boot camp graduation. We visited the Sears Tower and it was so foggy we couldn't see out. So Garrett used my phone card to call all the relatives and his friends he hadn't been able to talk to while in boot camp. An hour later, the fog lifted and we went on our way to tour Chicago.

It never did rain on us and actually got quite warm when we arrived back in San Francisco. Our lunch at Pancho Villa Taqueria was some of the best Mexican food I've had. It was reasonably priced with large portion sizes.

I would recommend this trip as a "quick-get-out-of-town" trip to any adult. I don't know that I would have taken my daughter, although there were plenty of other families there. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

n Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.